for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. >>> ha! back to "hardball." now the "sideshow." for all the craziness we saw at the conservative political action conference, cpac, if there's one visual i won't forget it's likely to be sarah palin producing a big gulp during her speech. every so often a politician turns to props like that to get her message across. over the years i've seen the winners and losers. let's start with the winners. think back to the heat of the health care debate in 2009. alan grayson brought a few posters along. >> if you get sick in america, this is what the republicans want you to do. if you get sick, america, the republican health care plan is this. die quickly. that's right. the republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick. >> well, now to the campaign trail. remember when mitt romney's advisers said a transition from primary season to the general election campaign was almost like an etch a sketch? you can kind of shake it up and start all over again. well, enter romney's opponents giving new life to what i thought had b